GRACE, THE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD
WHY YOU KNOW HER: An 11-month old puppy, Grace was shot by her Varina neighbor after she trespassed onto his property in early July.
WHAT'S NEW: After surgery for multiple projectile wounds, Grace is back at 90 percent, her owners say.
That day in July, Grace's co-owner Howard Lewis put her and a companion husky outside. They ended up on the nearby property of Mack Hudson, 79, who later recounted to police how he saw the two dogs as he was working in the backyard, and that one of them advanced towards him. He went to his house, loaded his shotgun, got into his truck and found Grace at the rear of the property, where he shot her. He claimed he was afraid for his life and that he aimed over the dog.
After Hudson appealed a guilty verdict of misdemeanor animal cruelty in lower court, a Henrico County judge found him guilty of the same charge and sentenced him to 30 days in jail, 26 of those suspended, and restitution of $3,000 of Grace's $10,000 vet bill. Donors already had covered the rest.
Grace underwent surgery for her wounds and recovered at home. Her owners said she once again can run, jump and play but shows a slight limp, Heather Sheffield said.
"She gets tired easily, but for the most part she's doing well," she said recently. Part of what helped was adopting another puppy, named General, from the same parents as Grace, just a different litter. Letters of support and even hand-drawn pictures from children have poured in, and Lewis and Sheffield have kept them all.
Grace and the couple's two other dogs now have a fenced-in area they play in, so they don't leave their property.
Hudson's family testified in Circuit Court in November that they have been the target of threatening phone calls and hate mail, and that Hudson had suffered from the stress of the incident and its aftermath.
According to the Henrico Community Corrections Program, Hudson paid his restitution in full.
Chris I. Young
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